Nearly 80% turnout in second phase of West Bengal polls

Voting for the second phase of polls in West Bengal began by 7 am on Sunday for 56 seats in seven districts.

Women voters show their voter IDs while in queue at a polling booth in Bolpur of Birbhum district on Sunday.(Subhendu Ghosh/ HT Photo )

Nearly 80% of about 1.22 crore voters exercised their right to franchise across 56 constituencies in the second phase of elections to the West Bengal assembly on Sunday, amid allegations of sporadic violence and voter intimidation.

“At 5pm, the overall polling percentage was 79.70%,” an Election Commission official said.

Long queues of voters were seen outside most polling booths despite the sweltering heat and humidity, as voting commenced at 7am.

Here are the day’s updates from the poll-bound region:

3.45pm: 70.33 % voter turnout recorded till 3 pm.

3.00pm: Education for children, jobs for youths and medicines for elderly is my mantra says Modi at a rally in Krishnagar.

People of West Bengal and Kerala are being cheated by Congress and the Left: Modi

2.30pm: “We have demanded for repolling in nine constituencies of Birbhum district,” says Bhupender Yadav of BJP on meeting with EC.

Yadav added, “We’ve demanded that state election commissioner of West Bengal be changed.”

2.00pm: BJP leaders meets the state election commission over clashes with TMC workers in Birbhum this morning, in which seven were injured.

Long queue of voters at a polling booth in Bolpur of Birbhum district on Sunday.
(Subhendu Ghosh/ HT Photo )

1.30pm: 55.94% voter turnout recorded till 1pm.

12.40pm: Anubrata Mondal casts his vote. The TMC strongman is under EC surveillance, as also in the eye of a political storm for his controversial statements at rallies. Mondal has also been charged with intimidating voters

The BJP decides to meet Election Commission at 1pm over the violence at Birbhum this morning. While at least seven workers of both BJP and TMC were injured, three were also held from both sides each over the clashes.

Meanwhile, fresh violence broke out between TMC and CPI(M) outside a polling booth in Malda.

Two persons injured in a clash between CPI(M) and TMC workers outside a polling booth in Malda(West Bengal). pic.twitter.com/ay2WNCR9h1

These are the first elections since the BJP stormed to power at the Centre in May 2014 in which the party is not seeking votes directly in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The second phase of elections are being held in Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Darjeeling, Malda and Birbhum.

In the 56 Assembly constituencies, the total number of candidates is 383 and of these 68 have criminal cases against them. The Trinamool Congress and BJP jointly have the maximum number of candidates with criminal cases, followed by the CPI(M) and Congress.